The present invention relates to a method for operating a safety system of a motor vehicle.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
Active safety systems, which are configured for avoiding collisions or for mitigating the consequences of a collision, are known in the state of the art. Such systems analyze, mostly by way of a collision probability, the risk of a collision and can attempt by various measures to avoid a collision and/or to at least keep the damages in case of a collision low. The measures can include active driving interventions however also the issuance of warnings and/or instructions and the control of further vehicle systems. For example, it is known, to adjust the operating parameters of vehicle systems in anticipation of a possible or unavoidable collision to the special situation for example in accordance with a pre conditioning of dead times and the like.
In case of an unavoidable collision i.e., when the dynamic possibilities of the motor vehicle are no longer sufficient to avoid a collision with a collision partner even in case of driving interventions, severe secondary collisions can occur after the first collision. In order to counteract these secondary collisions the current state of the art mostly only contemplates interventions of the driver which however, requires that the driver is physically able to perform the intervention and the intervention is within the scope of his driving skills. However, based on experience the driver is not able in these situations to avoid further collisions by taking his own measures or at least mitigate the caused damage.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to provide a method for operating a safety system which increases the safety after an initial collision with regard to further collisions.